7 SMART TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH
Help correct one another’s mistakes
Read to improve your English
Listen to well-spoken English
Read out loud to grow in confidence
Check and double check your work
Make good use of available resources
Speak clearly to be understood
Table of Content
The part of speech
The Sentence
Kind of Sentences
Articles
Punctuation
Active and Passive Voice
Verb Tense Charts
Adjective- Degree of Comparison
Direct and Indirect Speech
Possessive Noun
Subject Verb Agreement
The Parts Of Speech
In a sentence, words can be considered as the smallest components that have unique
meanings. We can categorize words into several types or parts of speech based on
their use and functions. An individual word can function as more than one part of
speech when used in different circumstances. Therefore, understanding parts of
speech is essential for determining the correct meaning of a word.
There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb,
adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
1. The Noun
This part of a speech refers to words that are used to name persons, places, things,
events or ideas. All nouns are naming words.
Example: Ravi, woman, boy (person); elephant, rabbit, tiger (animal); parrot, crow,
sparrow (bird); Delhi, Mumbai, India (place); computer, mobile, pencil (thing);
honesty, courage (idea), etc. Whatever we can see, feel or think and have names are
considered nouns.
Sample Sentences:
1. Rita lives in India.
2. Mina uses an ink pen for writing.
2. The Pronoun
This part of a speech refers to a word that replaces a noun. They eliminate the need
for repetition. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its
antecedent.
Example: I, you, he, she, we, ours, mine, yours, his, her, him, hers, they, them,
theirs, it, etc.
Sample Sentences:
1. Jia is a very determined child. She always focuses on her goal.
2. The largest share is mine.
3. The Adjective
This part of a speech refers to a word that modifies, describes or gives more
information about a noun or pronoun. Adjectives are describing words and normally
come before the nouns.
Example: fast, quiet, useful, much, pretty, old, blue, smart, beautiful, big, sad, red,
young, fun, crazy, three etc.
Sample Sentences:
1. The little boy had a blue umbrella.
2. The hardworking student received "A" grade.
4. The Verb
This part of a speech refers to a word that tells us what the subject does, or what
happens to it, or what state it is in, or what possesses.
Examples: am, is, was, are, were, have, has, had, do, does, did, be, am, is, are, was,
were, being, been, should, could, will, would, might, can, may, must, shall, ought
(to), go, speak, run, eat, play, live, walk, like etc.
Sample Sentences:
1. They are always ready for any disaster.
2. Ria is charming.
5. The Adverb
This part of a speech refers to a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another
adverb. Adverbs tell us how, when, where, how often and to what degree (extent)
something happens or takes place. Adverbs often end in -ly.
Examples: gently, quickly, extremely, carefully, well, slowly, quietly, very, always,
never, too, tomorrow, here etc.
Sample sentences:
1. He ate his pie quickly.
2. We are going tomorrow.
3. He looked everywhere for his sunglasses.
6. The Preposition
This part of a speech refers to a word or a group of words that shows its relation with
another noun or pronoun or a verb. Therefore it can also be called as a ‘relation’ word
and comes before a noun or a pronoun in a sentence. They are used to indicate time,
place, direction or relationship.
Example: in, on, into, at, by, upon, across, beside, between, of, out of, for, above,
below, throughout, outside, before, near etc.
Sample Sentences:
1. Rita’s act is lying under the bed.
2. She left her purse on the table.
7. The Conjunction (Connectors or Linking Words)
This part of a speech refers to a word that joins two or more words, phrases, or
clauses. . There are three kinds of conjunctions:
1. Coordinating Conjunctions: These are the words that join words, phrases,
and clauses of equal grammatical importance in the sentence. Example: and,
but, or, so, nor, for, yet.
2. Correlative Conjunctions: These are the words that join equally important
ideas, but they work in pairs. Example: either...or, both...and, not only...but
also, neither…nor, whether…or, either…or
3. Subordinating Conjunctions: These are the words that join words, phrases,
and clauses that are not equal. Example: because, although, while, since,
after, as, as if, before, even if, even though, if, so that, though, unless, until,
when, whenever, where, wherever, whether.
Sample sentences:
1. He wants to go, but he can't.
2. She is honest and hardworking.
8. The Interjection
This part of a speech refers to a word or phrase that states strong, sudden
emotions. It expresses strong feelings of joy, sadness, surprise, appreciation,
condemnation, etc. Since interjections are commonly used to convey strong emotions,
they are usually followed by an exclamation mark but in case of mild interjections we
place comma after the interjection.
Example: Ouch!, Alas!, Oh!, Bravo!, Fantastic!, Gorgeous!, Wow!, Hurrah!, Pooh!,
Pshaw!, Fie!, Gosh!
Sample Sentences:
1. Ouch! I got hurt.
2. Hurray! Tomorrow is a holiday.
3. Hey! You are wrong.
4. Oh, we’re late for the party.
Note 1: Articles and determiners like a, an, the, some, any, etc. are also adjectives
but they are studied separately due to their importance in modifying the meaning of
the word they qualify.
Note 2: Same Word – Several Parts of Speech
There are words that can be used in more than one way. This implies that a word can
function as several different parts of speech. The function of a word in a sentence
decides to which part of speech it belongs.
Note the highlighted words in the following sentences.
1. She like to watch plays on T.V. (noun)
2. He plays cricket during his vacation. (verb)
3. I would like a drink. (noun)
4. They drink too much alcohol. (verb)
5. Rima bought a new sofa for her house. (noun)
6. She is planning to buy a sofa bed for her living room. (adjective)
The Sentence
Whenever we write or speak, we use words. We group many words to convey our
message to people. Grouping of words is not sufficient, these words have to be in
proper order or sequence for better understanding. Words arranged in order should
express a complete thought.
Now read the following sentences.
1. Useful is metal iron a.
2. Iron is a useful metal.
Are they different?
Yes, the first sentence does not make any sense but the second sentence does
because it follows all the rules of making a sentence.
Rules:
1. A sentence is a group of words that conveys a complete idea.
2. A sentence always makes sense.
3. A sentence always starts with capital letter and end with a full stop, question
mark or exclamation mark.
4. A sentence must have at least one doing word i.e. verb.
Now read these groups of words.
1. in the river
2. glass of water.
These groups of words have sense but not complete sense. These groups of words
are called phrases.
Kinds of Sentences / Types of Sentences
Sentence can do four kinds of things.
Declarative sentence or assertive sentence state, assert or declare a fact. These
sentences are simple statements and end with a period (full stop).
Example:
1. The boys were playing in the ground.
Imperative sentence gives a command, makes a request or expresses a wish.
Imperative sentence ends with a period.
Example:
1. Go to your class. (Order)
2. Please lend me your pencil. (Request)
3. Have a safe journey. (Wish)
Interrogative sentence asks a question. Interrogative sentence ends with a question
mark.
Example:
1. Who has broken this desk?
2. Where is Ria?
Exclamatory sentence expresses sudden or strong feelings such as surprise, wonder,
pity, sympathy, happiness etc. Exclamatory sentence ends with exclamation mark.
Example:
1. How beautiful this scenery is!
2. That was awesome!
3. What a confusion they are creating!
Subject and Predicate
Let’s read following sentences:
Mina is tall.
Birds are chirping.
Bold part of the sentences tells us about the person or thing we are talking about.
Underlined part of the sentences tells more about the subject.
Therefore,
A simple sentence has two parts- a subject and a predicate.
Subject- tells who or what did something
Predicate- contains verb and tells us what the subject did or is doing.
In some cases subject are hidden in the sentence only.
Example:
1. Come here. (‘You’)
2. Don’t shout. (‘You’)
3. Stop. (‘You’)
In the above sentences ‘You’ is the subject.
Articles
There are 3 articles in English i.e. ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. In fact there are certain situations where
no article is needed. We have to follow certain guidelines in order to decide which article to
use before a noun in the sentence.
First of all we have to categorize the noun as countable and uncountable. Count
able nouns are those that refer to something that can be counted. They have both
singular and plural forms (e.g. flower/flowers; man/men; country/countries). In the
singular, they can be preceded by ‘a’ or ‘an’. Uncountable nouns are those that cannot
be divided into separate elements and thus cannot be counted. For example- milk, oil,
hair etc.
Rules for using articles ‘a’ and ‘an’.
1. Indefinite articles includes - ‘a’ and ‘an’. Articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ are called indefinite articles
because they refer to any member of a group, rather than to a particular member of the
group. We use them before a singular countable noun. Example: a pen, a boy, a plant, a
building, a man, a red umbrella, a camel, a swimming pool, a university, etc.
2. We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ depending upon the sound with which a countable noun begins. Noun
may begin with a consonant sound or a vowel sound.
3. We use ‘an’ if the following word begins with a vowel sound although they begin with a
consonant. Example: an apple, an elephant, an hour, an MBA, an MNC, an MLA, an MP, an
umbrella, an Igloo, an octopus, an honest girl, an ugly dress, an egg etc.
4. We use ‘a’ if the following word begins with a consonant sound. Example: a table, a girl, a
book, a teacher, a union, etc.
5. We usually use a/an before a singular countable noun when we introduce a noun for the
first time while speaking or writing.
6. Article ‘a’ is also used in phrases like have a headache, a bad cold, a noise, to be in a
hurry, a good option etc.
7. The plural of indefinite articles ‘a/an’ is ‘some’. Word ‘some’ is used to denote unknown or
any of the things.
Example:
a. There are some mangoes trees in his garden.
b. Pick up some mustard oil. (Means oil of any brand.)
Rules for using article ‘the’
‘The’ is called as the definite article as it points to a specific person or thing. Here the speaker
as well the writer is aware of the identity of the noun.
Example:
a. The sun is the ultimate source of energy.
b. I met the doctor who is a neurosurgeon.
1. We use ‘the’ before a noun when we talk about a particular member of a group (common
noun). Example: The minister was invited for inauguration function of the mall.
2. Article ‘the’ is also used when noun is unique and one of its kind. Example: the morning
star, the saturn, the earth, the moon, the sun, the sky, the stars, the heaven, the hell etc.
3. Article ‘the’ is used on its subsequent reference after it has already been introduced or used
while writing or speaking. Example: I saw a boy and a girl playing along the beach. The boy
was making a castle using sand. In this sentence, both the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ are
countable nouns and hence the words are preceded by ‘a’ when used for the first time. But
the same word is preceded by ‘the’ when repeated in the same context.
4. Definite article ‘the’ is also used before superlative adjectives. Example: the tallest tree, the
most beautiful house, the longest rope, the least harmful medicine, the best option etc.
Sample Sentence
a. This is the smallest umbrella I have ever seen.
b. Our kitchen garden is the biggest in our neighborhood.
5. Use ‘the’ to represent the entire class or group of people, animals or things.
Example:
a. The cat is as nice as dog.
b. The toddler is naughty by nature.
6. Before the names of (a) sacred books, (b) newspapers, (c) rivers, (d) well known buildings, (e) mountain
ranges, (f) seas, oceans, (g) islands etc.
Example:
a. The Gita, the Bible, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Quran.
b. The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Hindustan Times, The New York
Times, The Tribune, The Indian Express etc.
7. Write ‘the’ before the names of communities. Example: the Hindus, the Muslims,
the Cholas, the Christians, the Sikhs, the English, the Aryans.
8. Use article ‘the’ in phrases like in the winter, in the summer, in the autumn, in the
morning, in the evening, in the afternoon, in the night and linkers like on the other
hand, to speak the reality, to tell you the fact etc.
9. We use ‘the’ following a class. Example: the rich, the poor, the middle class, the
elite, the schedule caste etc.
10. Use ‘the’ when ‘of’ is a part of the school’s or universities name. Example: the Institute of
Chartered Financial Analysts of India, the University of Calcutta etc.
11. Use article ‘the’ to refer a part from a large group.
Example:
a. One of the girls was absent.
b. Some of the stolen jewellery was recovered.
12. Avoid using ‘the’ unless the name of the country refers to a group or has the word “of”
within the name. Example: United States of America.
13. Use the before ordinal numbers such as “first,” “second,” “third”, “fourth” etc.
Omission of the Article
1. Do not use articles before cities and streets. Example: His clinic is in Ghaziabad.
2. When we refer to a common noun that stands for something in the widest of sense.
Example:
a. He is only man. (It means that he cannot be God.)
b. What kind of answer is it?
3. Skip article in case of material noun.
Example:
a. Platinum is very precious.
b. Don’t waste water.
4. Skip article while referring to language.
Example:
a. Hindi is my mother tongue.
b. I scored good grade in English in my first term exam.
5. Articles are not required while referring the name of a relation like brother, sister,
mother, father, husband, God.
Example:
a. My brother is coming tonight.
b. Mother is already home.
6. Article is not used before proper nouns like Qutub Minar, Rajiv, Delhi except in few
cases.
Example:
a. He is the Shakespeare of our city.
b. He is the Newton of this era.
7. Do not use any article before temple, church, school, hospital, bed, market, court,
etc. which are visited for the primary purpose for which they have been created.
Example:
a. She is going to market.(to shop)
b. She is going to the market. (for some other purpose)
Punctuation
Capital letters
We use capital letter in the following case:
1. To begin a sentence
2. For proper noun
3. For pronoun ‘I’
Common punctuation marks
Full Stop (.)
1. Full stop is used at the end statement or command sentence.
Example:
This is a red car. (Statement)
Come here. (Command)
2. Full stop is used in end of abbreviations if the first and only a part of the word are
used.
Example:
Captain (Capt.)
3. Full stop is not used in the abbreviations if the last letter of word is included in the
abbreviations.( according to UK convention)
Example:
Doctor (Dr)
Question Mark (?)
1. Question mark is used at the end of direct question.
Example:
Why are you sad? (Direct question)
2. Question mark is not used in case of indirect question.
Example:
I asked her why she is sad. (Indirect question)
Exclamation Mark (!)
An exclamation mark usually used to shows strong feeling such as surprise, anger or
joy.
Example:
Well done!
Hurray! Tomorrow is holiday.
Comma (,)
1. Comma is used to show a pause in a sentence.
Example:
Therefore, we should speak to teacher on this matter.
2. Comma is used to separate words in a list of things.
Example:
I want to order pizza, burger, soft drinks and lollipops.
3. Comma is used to show what someone has said.
Example:
“I hope he will be all right soon”, said Ravi
4. Comma is used after salutation.
Example:
Dear mam,
Apostrophe (‘)
1. Apostrophe is used to indicate possession of something.
Example:
This is Ravi’s house.
2. Apostrophe is used in contraction where letters have been omitted.
Example:
Don’t
Active and Passive Voice
Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and
"passive forms."
Let’s see the following sentences.
1. The teacher teaches the students.
2. The student was taught by the teacher.
What is the difference between these two sentences?
In sentence 1, the subject (teacher) is the doer of the action i.e. the subject of the
verb acts or is active. The Verb, teaches is therefore said to be in the Active Voice.
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the
thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [Verb] + [Thing receiving action]
In sentence 2, the subject (student) is the receiver of the action. Here, the subject
of the verb does not perform the action or is not active or is passive. Here the subject
of the Verb is acted upon. The Verb (was taught) is therefore said to be in the passive
voice.
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and
the thing doing the action is usually mentioned near the end of the sentence. We can
use the passive form when the thing receiving the action is more important or should
be emphasized or when we do not know who is doing the action or we do not want to
mention the doer.
Only Transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice.
[Thing receiving action] + [Be] + [Past participle of verb] + [By] + [Thing doing
action]
So when we change a sentence from Active form to the Passive, the Object of the
Active Verb becomes the Subject of the passive verb.
Some more examples
Present Tense
Active: I see a clear sky.
Passive: A clear sky is seen by me.
Active: Sam kills a snake.
Passive: A snake is killed by Sam.
Past Tense
Active: Tom caught the burglar.
Passive: The burglar was caught by Tom.
Active: Piyush beat Jimmy.
Passive: Jimmy was beaten by Piyush.
Future Tense
Active: Your mom will forgive you.
Passive: You will be forgiven by your mom.
Active: Ria will never help Tia.
Passive: Tia will never be helped by Ria.
Sentence that has two objects in the active voice can be changed to the
passive in two ways.
Active: She gave me a bouquet.
Passive:
A bouquet was given to me by her.
I was given a bouquet by her.
Active: We gave him a watch.
Passive:
A watch was given to him by us.
He was given a watch by us.
Verb Tenses Charts
As we all know, there are 12 Tenses I English Grammar, four from each of the
Present, Past, and Future. The charts contain the structure of each tense, with a
common example modified for each tense. Thus it will be very helpful for you to
remember all the tenses easily.
Present Tense Chart
Examples used in the above chart:




I eat an apple ( Verb phrase – eat – Simple Present )
I am eating an apple ( Verb phrase – am eating – Present Continuous )
I have eaten an apple ( Verb phrase – have eaten – Present Perfect )
I have been eating an apple ( Verb phrase – have been eating – Present Perfect
Continuous )
Past Tense Chart
Examples used in the above chart:




I ate an apple ( Verb phrase – ate – Simple Past )
I was eating an apple ( Verb phrase – was eating – Past Continuous )
I had eaten an apple ( Verb phrase – had eaten – Past Perfect )
I had been eating an apple ( Verb phrase – had been eating – Past Perfect
Continuous )
Future Tense Chart
Examples used in the above chart:




I shall eat an apple ( Verb phrase – shall eat – Simple Future )
I shall be eating an apple ( Verb phrase – shall be eating – Future Continuous )
I shall have eaten an apple ( Verb phrase – shall have eaten – Future Perfect )
I shall have been eating an apple ( Verb phrase – shall have been eating –
Future Perfect Continuous)
Adjective - Degree of Comparison
Adjectives are words we use to describe a noun or pronoun. It is a word which
qualifies (shows how big, small, great, many, few, etc.) a noun or a pronoun is in a
sentence.
Adjectives are usually placed just before the words such as naughty boy, blue
umbrella, rotten apple, four coins etc.
Now read the following sentences:
1. Ram is a tall boy.
2. Hari is taller than Ram.
3. Avi is the tallest of the three.
The Adjective ‘tall’ is in the Positive Degree. Here adjective is in simple form and
represents the presence of some quality in the thing or person we speak about. It
simply tells us “how Ram is” and there is no other person or thing in this sentence
used to compare Ram with. Positive Degree is used when no comparison is made i.e.
when we speak about only one person or thing.
The Adjective “taller” is said to be in the Comparative Degree. It represents a higher
degree of the quality than the Positive. It is used to compare the qualities of two
persons or things. Here height of Hari and Ram are compared and shows the
difference of quality between the two.
The Adjective “tallest” is said to be in the Superlative Degree. It represents the
highest degree of the quality. It is used when more than two objects are compared.
So, there are three Degrees of Comparison.
1. Positive degree.
2. Comparative degree.
3. Superlative degree
Formation of Comparative and Superlative
Let’s see how the Adjectives form the Comparative and Superlative:
Rule 1: The following Adjectives form the Comparative by adding –“er” and
Superlative by adding –“est” to the Positive.
Rule 2: If the Positive ends in “e”, only “r” and “st” are added to form the
Comparative and the Superlative.
Rule 3: If the Positive end in “y” and “y” is preceded by a consonant, the “y” is
changed into “i”, before adding “er” and “est”. But if the “y” is preceded by a vowel,
then “y” is not changed into “i”.
But – This is an exception to the above rule.
Rule 4: If the Positive Degree has only one syllable and ends in one consonant, and
the consonant is preceded by a short vowel, this consonant is doubled before adding
“er” and “est”.
Rule 5: Many Adjectives of two syllables, and all Adjectives of the more than two
syllables, take “more” before them to form the Comparative and “most” to form the
Superlative.
Rule 6: The following Adjectives are compared irregularly:
Note:
1. “Than” is used after the Comparative Degree. “The” is used before the
Superlative Degree.
2. Do not use the Double Comparative and Superlative, such as more better and
most loveliest.
3. A few Comparative are followed by “to”, instead of than; as, inferior to, superior
to, junior to, senior to.
4. Each, every, either, neither, when used as Adjectives, go with singular Noun.
Example- Every boy was punished.
Direct and Indirect Speech
We can report the words of a speaker in two ways:
1. By repeating the exact words used by the speaker.
2. By reporting only the material of what he said.
Now read the following sentences.
1. Ram said, “Anand is a good boy.”
2. Ram said that Anand was a good boy.
In the first sentence, we repeat, or quote, the exact words spoken by the speaker.
This is called Direct Speech or Narration. Here we put the exact words of the speaker
within quotation marks (" ") and we place a colon after 'said'. We write first word
inside the quotation marks with a capital letter.
A comma is placed after the Reporting Verb to separate it from the second part of the
sentence. In the first sentence, “said” is called the reporting verb, and “Anand is a
good boy.” is called the Reported Speech.
In the second sentence, we do not give the exact words of the speaker but give only
the substance of what he said. This is called Indirect Speech or Narration.
In Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), we do not use quotation
marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word. Here
colon is not used after said. Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about
the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. The Verb ‘is’ is
changed to was. (The Tense of the Verb in the Reported Speech is changed from the
Present to the Past.). Here the Reported Speech is introduced by the Conjunction
‘that’.
Rules For Changing Direct Speech Into Indirect Speech
Rule 1: If the Reporting Verb is in the Present or Future Tense, the Verb in the
Reported Speech is not changed at all. In other words, if in direct speech we find say,
says or will say then we will not change the tense of the verb inside the quotation
marks.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Dia says, “There is no water in the glass.”
Indirect Speech - Dia says that there is no water in the glass.
Direct Speech - Ram will say, “Nobody was in the auditorium.”
Indirect Speech - Ram will say that nobody was in the auditorium.
Rule 2: If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, the Verb in the Reported Speech is
also changed to the Past Tense. In other word, if in direct speech we find reporting
verb “said” then we will change the tense of the verb inside the quotation marks to
the past tense.
Here are some examples:
1. The Simple Present becomes the Simple Past.
Direct Speech - Tia said, “Neena works very hard.”
Indirect Speech - Tia said that Neena worked very hard.
Direct Speech - She said, "It is cold outside."
Indirect Speech - She said it was cold outside.
2. The Present Continuous becomes the Past Continuous.
Direct Speech - He said, "I visited Delhi last year”
Indirect Speech - He said that he had visited Delhi the previous year.
Direct Speech - Meera said, "I'm teaching French online."
Indirect Speech - Meera said she was teaching French online.
3. The Present Perfect becomes the Past Perfect.
Direct Speech - Anu said, "I have lived here for a long time.”
Indirect Speech - Anu said that she had lived there for a long time.
Direct Speech - Meena said, “Kapil has written the article.”
Indirect Speech - Meena said that Kapil had written the article.
4. May is changed into might; can is changed into could.
Direct Speech - He said, “Rahul may clear the exam.”
Indirect Speech - He said that Rahul might clear the exam.
Direct Speech - I said, “I can solve this problem.”
Indirect Speech - I said that I could solve this problem.
5. The Simple Past becomes the Past Perfect.
Direct Speech - Dev,”Avi reached at night.”
Indirect Speech - Dev said that Avi had reached at night.
Direct Speech - He said, “She came at 11 a.m. in the morning.”
Indirect Speech - He said that she had come at 11 a.m. in the morning.
6. The Past Continuous becomes the Past Perfect Continuous.
Direct Speech - Ravi said, “All were looking at the magician.”
Indirect Speech - Ravi said that all had been looking at the magician.
Direct Speech - Jimmy said, “All the boys were shouting.”
Indirect Speech - Jimmy said that all the boys had been shouting.
7. Shall is changed into should; will is changed into would.
Direct Speech - Radha said, "I will open the door."
Indirect Speech - Radha said that she would open the door.
Direct Speech - I said, “I shall try to assist her.”
Indirect Speech - I said that I should try to assist her.
Rule 3: If in direct speech the Reported Speech contains some universal or habitual
fact, then we will follow RULE ONE or in other words the tense inside the quotation
marks remains unchanged.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Ravi said, “Everything happens for a reason.”
Indirect Speech - Ravi said that everything happens for a reason.
Direct Speech - Teacher said, “The moon moves round the earth.”
Indirect Speech - Teacher said that the moon moves round the earth.
Rule 4: Pronouns of the First Person in Direct Speech are changed in indirect Speech
to the same person as the subject of the introductory verb.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Tia said, “I am tired.”
Indirect Speech - John said that I was tired.
Direct Speech - Sita said, “I have done my homework.”
Indirect Speech - Sita said that she had done her homework.
Rule 5: Pronouns of the Second Person in Direct Speech are changed in Indirect
Speech to the same person as the noun or pronoun which comes after the
introductory verb
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Heera said to me, “You are genius.”
Indirect Speech - Heera told me that I was genius.
Direct Speech - Avi said to Abhi,”You are a smart boy.”
Indirect Speech - Avi told Abhi that he was a smart boy.
Rule 6: Pronouns of the Third Person in Direct Speech remain the same in Indirect
Speech.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Harmeet said to me, “She is not well.”
Indirect Speech - Harmeet told me that she was not well.
Direct Speech - He said to me, “She was correct.”
Indirect Speech - He told me that she was correct.
Note : - In all the above examples, the verb ‘said’ in Direct Speech becomes ‘told’ in
Indirect Speech and the Preposition ‘to’ is omitted.
Rule 7: When turning a sentence from Direct into indirect Speech words showing
‘nearness’ are changed into words showing ‘distance.’ Thus:
Now becomes then.
Here becomes there.
Ago becomes before.
Today becomes before.
This becomes that.
These become those.
Tomorrow becomes the next day.
Yesterday becomes the day before (or the previous day).
Last night becomes the night before (or the previous night)
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Tim said, “I am free now.”
Indirect Speech - Tim said that he was free then.
Direct Speech - He said, “I have seen this woman in the market.”
Indirect Speech - He said that he had seen that woman in the market.
Rule 8: Commands and Requests
In reporting a Command or a Request in the Indirect Speech, we change the
introductory Verb to request, order, command, advice or some other word suiting the
sense. Here the verb in Reported Speech is put in the Infinitive.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - I said to Karishma,”Please give me your pen.”
Indirect Speech - I requested Karishma to give me her pen.
Direct Speech - “You must read this article” said the teacher to Riya.
Indirect Speech - Teacher advised Riya to read that article.
Direct Speech - He said to the Principal, “Forgive me.”
Indirect Speech - He begged the Principal to forgive him.
Rule 9: In reporting question in the Indirect Speech, we change introductory Verb to
ask or inquire. We use ‘whether’ or ‘if’ if the interrogative sentence begins with a
verb. Here interrogative form is changed into the Declarative form. There is no need
to use new connective is used if the interrogative sentence begins with who, whose,
whom, which, what, how, when or why.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - He said to me, “Where are you staying in Delhi?”
Indirect Speech - He asked me where I was staying in Delhi.
Direct Speech - Rosy said to her,” How are you doing?”
Indirect Speech - Rosy asked her how she was doing.
Rule 10: Exclamations and Wishes
In reporting an Exclamation or Wish in the Indirect Speech, we omit words showing
exclamation such as alas, hurrah, etc. and sign of exclamation. We change the
introductory Verb into wish, claim, pray, bless, curse, etc.
Here are some examples:
Direct Speech - Students said, “Hurrah! We have won the series.”
Indirect Speech - Students exclaimed with joy that they had won the series.
Direct Speech - She said to her, “May you live long!”
Indirect Speech - She wished that she might live long.
Possessive Noun
Noun: Possessive Case
Observe the following sentences carefully.
1. The bird’s nest is in my garden.
2. Meera found Reena’s pencil.
3. Tia lost her brother’s pen.
4. Mrs. Seema’s car is blue in color.
In the above mentioned sentences, bird’s, Reena’s, brother’s, Mrs. Seema’s are in
the Possessive Case because each of these words denotes the possessor or owner
of anything.
We use possessive case to show possession (i.e. ownership or belongings).
Therefore, Possessive case of a noun or pronoun shows ownership or association.
How to Form the Possessive Case
Study the Nouns in the Possessive Case in the following sentences.
1. The girl’s grandma is not well.
2. The boy’s bat is stolen.
3. David’s father is a nice person.
In the above sentences the Nouns in the Possessive Case are Singular. So, we can
say that the Possessive Case of a Singular Noun is formed by adding an apostrophe
(‘) and “s” to the noun.
Let’s see some more examples:
1. “the house of Mita” can be written as “Mita’s house”.
2. “the car of my friend” can be written as “my friend’s car”.
3. “the field of the farmer” can be written as “the farmer’s field”Now study the
Nouns in the Possessive Case in the following Sentences.
1. Many boys’ pencils wore lost.
2. Today is my parents’ anniversary.
3. The clowns’ noses were shining.
In the above sentences the Nouns in the Possessive Case are Plural. So, we can say
that the Possessive Case of a Plural Noun that ends in “s” is formed by adding only an
apostrophe (‘) the last letter of the word. We do not add another “s” if plural noun
ends in “s”.
Let’s see some more examples:
1. “the crowns of the kings” can be written as “the kings’ crowns”.
2. “the bones of the dogs” can be written as “the dogs’ bones”.
3. “the books of the teachers” can be written as “the teachers’ books”.
Now examine these sentences.
1. The children’s bag packs are in the box.
2. The men’s shirts were red in color.
3. The women’s dresses are on the shelf.
In the above sentences the Nouns in the Possessive Case are Plural but do not ends
in “s”. So, we can say that the Possessive Case of a Plural Noun that do not ends in
“s” is formed by adding an apostrophe (‘) and “s” to the noun.
Let’s see some more examples:
1. “the wool of the sheep” can be written as “the sheep’s wool”.
2. “the purses of the women” can be written as “the women’s purses”.
3. “the cheese of the mice” can be written as “the mice’s cheese”.
Note:
1. The Possessive Case is used when the Noun represents some living thing.
Example: cow’s tail, girl’s doll etc.
2. But when the Noun represents any non-living thing, possession is generally
expressed by using preposition ‘of’.
Example: cover of the book, legs of the table etc.
It is incorrect to write book’s cover or table’s legs
Subject-Verb Agreement
The easiest and basic rules for subject-verb agreement is:Root Rule– A singular subject takes a singular verb and vice versa with plural. A
plural subject takes a plural verb.

For Example- The list of grocery items is/are on the dining table.
o Here list is the subject, then we will choose is for the verb.
Rule Plural Verb is used when the subject of the sentence is joined by composed by
noun and pronoun and it is connected by and then in such case plural verb are used.

For Example- Ram and his friends are at the party.
o Here Ram and his friend are subject and are is verb
Subject Verb Agreement Rules
Rule 1:
In Singular Subject must use these verbs is, was, has, does, or verb ending
with s or es but these verb are of singular forms of verbs.
Rule 2:
In Plural Subject must use these verbs are were, have, do or verbs
without s or es because these are the plural forms of verbs.
Rule 3:
If there is pronoun YOU as the sentence subject, we MUST use the plural form of
verbs, which are as follows:- are, were, have, do or verbs without s or es ending
Rule 4:
Compound subject contains both singular and plural noun or pronoun which is either
joined by or/nor, the verb should agree with part of the subject that is nearer the
verb.
Rule 5:
The following words are singular and require a singular verb:- each one, each,
neither, everybody, everyone, someone, somebody.
Rule 6:
If the sentence is beginning with “there is” or “there are” the verb is followed by a
subject. Therefore “there” is not the subject the verb agrees with what follows.
Rule 7:
General Rule- use a plural verb when two or more subject is joined together by and.
Rule 8:
The Collective noun such as group, population, friends, family. The verb might be
plural.